1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the several fields that support wellness of both humans and animals, and particularly to the use of dry carbonic baths to achieve such wellness.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many methodologies exist by which beneficial effects in living tissue result from the application of dry carbon dioxide gas, carbon dioxide dissolved in water, and similar methods that stimulate the transcutaneous passage of carbon dioxide molecules into living tissues. European literature describes substantial benefits from such therapy, including reduction of blood pressure, improved vascularization, and subjectively-perceived and reported higher energy levels.
In the marketplace there appear various primitive means by which a body is mostly submerged in water with a high concentration of dissolved CO2, but such processes are uncontrolled and only coincidentally are key parameters optimized. Conventional baths in water with a high concentration of CO2 are difficult to standardize, and often results cannot be replicated.
Market research has also identified various cabinets of fabric, plastic, wood, or metal that permit the application of dry gases including CO2, but such processes are also uncontrolled and in a given session are only coincidentally optimized.
The present invention is a clear departure from prior art, as it optimizes the process of exposing the living body to gaseous CO2, automates aspects of said exposure, and thereby maximizes benefits from transcutaneous absorption of CO2 by living tissue of humans and animals. The present invention is also differentiated from prior art by its means of deployment into the marketplace.
Prior art methods and devices exist for applying CO2 in gaseous form, or as a solute dissolved in water, but they do not provide an optimized combination of gases, temperature, humidity, and exposure time, which when balanced properly are critical to the efficiency of the process and the results it obtains.
Prior art methods and equipment for applying CO2 in gaseous form, or dissolved in water, fail to provide automated management of those parameters to permit maximum results.
Patent number RU 2066548 Class A 61 H 33/06 by inventor SAM BELKIN with priority date of Jul. 16, 1992 discloses a system that is similar to the present invention and is by the same inventor. However, the present invention is differentiated from the inventor's previous invention by the following:                a. The previous invention provided approximate gas and temperature levels, while the present invention benefits from studies by the inventor that discovered optimum gas and temperature levels for specific situations, and uses a micro-processor or microcontroller and closed-loop systems to ensure operation at those levels, thus increasing the probability of achieving predictable and repeatable results.        b. The previous invention used adjustments that set crude levels of gas concentrations and temperatures. The present invention uses methods to maintain precise levels of gas concentrations and temperatures that can be adjusted by the operator to meet changing circumstances or the needs of the patient or client.        c. The previous invention used a simple fan to provide air flow in the cabinet. The present invention uses a precise fan, mixing system, and ducting arrangement to ensure homogeneity of the gases in the cabinet, optimizing the nature of the gas-skin interface at all points on the body of the patient or client.        
In the prior art are enclosures that provide the user with combinations of humidity and temperature, as a personal or single-user sauna. This is known and accepted technology. The present invention is intended to include combination cabinets that enable the selection of either a dry carbonic bath or a conventional sauna. Though the sauna alone is not considered to be inventive, the combination of sauna plus dry CO2 bath is.
Various commercial products and methods such as “Rio-Blush,” “Carbossi,” and organizations employing the Italy-based procedure given the generic name “carbossiterapia” use needles to inject CO2 under the skin. In the west, the procedure has been given the name “carboxytherapy,” and is intended to improve skin tone and remove wrinkles. In such instances, the procedure involves the use of fine needles to inject CO2 under the skin.
Sanatorii in Belarus, Tamas Bender MD in Hungary, the Wókniarz Sanatorium in Busko-zdroj, Poland, Reabox in Russia, and other (mostly Eastern European) spas and medical centers make and/or use carbon dioxide dry and wet bath systems of various sorts, but the results they achieve are not as beneficial as they could be if the operational parameters were controlled as they are in the case of the present invention.
Existing systems also fail to exploit the physical similarity between the CO2 bath cabinet and the cabinet required by a personal sauna, while the present invention includes the possibility of a single product that offers the selection of either function.
Existing systems do not provide commercial optimization, permitting the use of credit/debit cards and transaction efficiency.
The present invention does not use needles, and does employ unique monitoring and control technologies to ensure optimization of the temperature, CO2 concentration, and water vapor concentration to precisely manage the passage of CO2 through the skin of the user.
The present invention does permit the cabinet to be used either as a dry CO2 bath or as a sauna.
The present invention does include the employment of credit/debit card devices to improve transaction efficiency.
In these respects, the present invention substantially departs from the concepts and designs of prior art. In so doing, the present invention improves the mechanisms and processes by which dry carbon dioxide gas is applied to living tissue, facilitates transcutaneous absorption of the gas by living tissue, provides unique opportunities to therapy-oriented businesses that adopt the CO2 bath equipment and procedure, reduces the skill level requirements for technicians using the technology, improves measurable beneficial results, elevates customer/User satisfaction, and permits a unique combination of dry CO2 bath and sauna in a personal or single-occupant cabinet.